Productive Talk + Purposeful Play = Learning in Action 

Oral language development is considered an unconstrained skill. In other words, it is a skill that can never be fully mastered because there is always more to learn. Take a look at these tips from the IFL Fellows on how embedding productive talk into purposeful play can grow those skills and impact student learning.

Planning for Charting In and Across Lessons 

Check out our second article about charting, one of our favorite learner-centered routines! We consider charting a learner-centered routine because the act of charting allows in-the-moment thinking to be documented so that it can be revisited, revised, and refined over the course of a lesson and across lessons. In this article we share some questions that can be used in the planning process to think about what and when to use charting.

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The Power of Public Charting in Math Classrooms to Engage Every Student in Accountable Talk® Discussions

In many mathematics classrooms, there is no shortage of charts and posters adorning the walls. However, often these charts and posters are premade or purchased and are not co-authored with students. Charting for the purposes of public marking of students’ ideas or a reference tool that is publicly available and focuses on deep, meaningful math structure should be a learner-centered routine that serves students. Read these tips for incorporating or bettering the use of charts in your math classroom.

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Dallas ISD/IFL Network for School Improvement: Lessons Learned

The Dallas ISD/IFL Network for School Improvement has been working together for the past five years to improve 9th grade on-track literacy for college and career readiness for African American and Hispanic students, as well as those in living in poverty. In our first article, we shared a little about the work we’ve done with teachers to understand the problems of practice in ELA in DISD schools; how we’ve partnered with teachers to enact instructional changes; and how those changes have had an impact on student achievement. In this article, we share a little about the lessons we’ve learned about coaching for improvement, developing instructional coherence, and adaptive integration.

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Dallas ISD/IFL Network for School Improvement: Enacting Instructional Change in ELA

The Dallas ISD/IFL Network for School Improvement has been working together for the past five years to improve 9th-grade on-track literacy for college and career readiness for African American and Hispanic students, as well as those living in poverty. As we begin to wrap up our final year collaborating with Dallas, we’ll share a little about the work we’ve done with teachers to understand the problems of practice in ELA in their schools, how we’ve partnered with teachers to enact instructional changes, and how those changes have had an impact on student achievement. This article is the first in a two-article series.

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IFL named Research Partnership for Professional Learning (RRPL) affiliate in the Annenberg Institute at Brown University

The Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh is proud to announce that it has become a Research Partnership for Professional Learning (RRPL) affiliate in the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. The partnership will allow the Institute for Learning to work with other RPPL affiliates to advance the usable evidence on teacher learning and improve educational equity for all students.

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